I have a roku tv that my son cracked with a play broom and now am shopping for a new tv. The Roku tv now two years old still got upgraded to latest roku releases. Is the same true for android tv or is it a lot like android phones and completely dependent on the tv manufacture? I was basically deciding on the Hisense H8G or the TCL series 6.
I've bought two Roku 6 series TV's to plug my Shield TV boxes into. I set Roku up on both, but have reset one to disable the Roku part and will soon do the same to the other.
Smart TV performance is pitiful compared to even the Mi Box.
Just depends on the year of the SmarTV most of the Apps will bill updated for awhile but some apps are not available on certain years of tvs. So folks should always check for updates through the TV that will pull in App updates as well as Android TV updates. But Everyone must remember with Smart Tv's there are year cutoffs so basically if people want certain apps they will have to upgrade their tv's or get Streaming Device like Roku's until their ready to upgrade their tv.
We've got two Sony Android TVs and they have gotten updates. They also perform OK. Its a little sluggish compared to our Apple TV 4K, but about on par with the Rokus we have. We use it as the primary streaming platform on one of them, but I'm going to get an Apple TV whenever the new model comes out.
I have a 2015 Sony Bravia android tv. It is still on Android 7. I have a Nvidia shield which is on Android 9. It is definitely up to the manufacturer. I'd go with one of the boxes.
Like others have said on here, Google screwed up by letting the manufacturers decide when and if a TV gets upgraded. It took 5 years for Sony to upgrade my 2015 Sonia Bravia to Oreo v8.0.
That said, your best bet is to buy the dumbest TV you can find and add a Shield or Apple TV. I own both and give a slight edge to Apple TV, but that’s only because it plays nice with my other iDevices. If you have a Pixel or another Android phone, a Shield is really your only viable option.
Xiaomi and Nvidia do great job. Also the iSheep mentality that many users bring to the table is wrong. At iOS you wait one year to take the precious firmware just for Safari and Mail updates 😂
Google Play services, Webview, Home launcher , home services, Play Store and other components are updated directly and constantly.
I am happy with the state of updates. Only complain I have is that Google didn't kept the promise of monthly security updates and yes I had Nexus player too...
Google branded devices like Nexus and ADT always get the latest updates and always before any other manufacturer. Nvidia is very good with updates and feature additions for the Shield TV but mostly one major Android version behind (for good reason). Sony TV and Xiaomi are a bit behind the Shield updates but also still get updates. For the ultimate Android TV experience (and the most expensive), get a Shield
Got xiaomi MiTV 4s 55 4k with Android 9 and it gets updated every 2 months, no complaints so far
Which Android TVs come with hands free google assistant? In other words I can control it with hotword and no remote? I have a sony that does this, but wondering if there are others.
I have a TCL 65"C6 Android TV and I am a very happy customer. Updates doesn't get pushed frequently but you can download them and update the firmware manually, if you wish to do so.
I have the TCL, and yes, it's awful. Maybe even worse then Android phones
If you are concerned about updates then I'd recommend that you don't keep your hopes high. I'm not sure about other TV OS'es like Roku, Samsung, LG but AndroidTV is very bad at this aspect.
Most of the times updates are not given at all and in other cases, updates are pushed very late and even then those updates will have at least one major bug/issue.
For your streaming needs, you have three options -
All this said, AndroidTV/FireOS are superior than Samsung, LG and ROKU because of more apps & games availability, and ability to sideload apps/games.
Cheap Android TV devices inc. TV’s can be sketchy with their OS and bug fixing Firmware updates. They usually use barely adequate chipsets for running the Android TV OS.
The Premium devices like the Nvidia Shield and the top of the range 2019 Sony’s and all 2020 Sony’s now as well have the most powerful chipsets under the hood to allow them to get Android OS updates for quite a while.
Sony in the last year have really upped their game with OS Updates and Firmware bug fixes for the TV’s mentioned above. And that is mainly due to Google’s successful insistant on new Oreo OS devices being Project Treble compliant.
So basically you get what you pay for if you want decent after sales Firmware and OS support. It’s really quite critical as well with TV’s running Android TV that you get a powerful chipset under the hood with them. Otherwise expect obsolescence pretty quickly.
Its up to manufacturers, get a decent tv and a shield. Dont buy a tv for its smart tv features. Theyre all bad compared to a shield.